Heavenly Sword

A Sony PlayStation 3 video game inspired this quasi-Asiatic CGI-animated combat fantasy, mostly devoted to what gamers call "boss" fights, pitting a sword-slashing protagonist against a series of ever-more-invincible rivals. In this case, the hero is a heroine, Nariko, who is something of a family outcast due to her gender but secretly well-trained in martial-arts. Her clan guards a blade that is supposedly of divine origin. Like Tolkien's One Ring, the Heavenly Sword can grant unlimited power, but it also controls and enslaves its wielder—although little is made of that fact during the capture-the-sword chase plot with Nariko, her crossbow-wielding kid sister, and pursuing creature armies of the evil King Bohan. While the story is essentially repetitious, the deaths of a few key characters offer twists that some viewers might not see coming, and the film does boast an especially vibrant color palette. Certainly not the lamest of game-to-film narratives, this should be considered a strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)